Crocus Concert Hall massacre: Why we must ignore 'the conspirasphere' to work out what really happened

The appalling Crocus Concert Hall massacre has spawned outlandish conspiracy theories. But it is crucial we sort out what we know, and what is likely, from the blizzard of nonsense

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A fire rages inside the Crocus City Hall on March 22, 2024 in Krasnororsk, Russia (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)

Social media was once again awash with nonsensical conspiracy theories at the weekend, following the appalling Crocus Concert Hall terror attack last Friday night.

Not that I follow these things usually, but I noticed that this time in particular people were posting with absolute confidence what they believed had happened.

Few western intelligence agencies escaped the deluge of rubbish being posted, rubbish which displayed a depth of ignorance that has thus far been unsurpassed in what I will call “the conspirasphere”.

This area of human imagination has to have a name in my view and until someone comes up with a better one I shall leave it out there to highlight the afflicted.

Now, I will admit that there is one unusual aspect to this attack which I will come to later – but with the huge caveat that it’s only a small thing and it may well be nothing.

It seems that even if you were to witness an event in person, you knew the perpetrators personally and who they represent, still some people would say it was done by someone else.